Joint supplements ???? Glucosamine, Boswella, MSM

H

Horsekaren

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 March 2017
Messages
1,300
Visit site
I am going to start my boy on a joint supplement to see if this might help things a bit behind.

I have been suggested Equiflex which should arrive tomorrow-
https://www.healthspan.co.uk/products/equiflex#/?pack size=1488

Ingredients
Glucosamine HCl, Alfalfa, Chondroitin Sulphate, Manganese Ascorbate


I dont want to get carried away with supplements but at present he is on nothing for joints bar Vit E oil.
Ive been reading and i'm wondering whether it would be worth introducing boswella (poweder only) and MSM (pure powder only) as well? All of the above would work out about £45.00 a month so not too silly.

I am going to give the equiflex a go as its been recommended but are any of the ingredients no no's

He has been on turmeric but i cant see any difference (apart from a orange mustache)

I guess i would kind of be making my own mix, does anyone else feed all of the above?

He is currently-
1 handfull of grass nuts
cetrizine
Equimimms vit e oil
D&H placid
Equimimmms vits and mins pellets
Salt

He can be a bit fussy so i was thinking about adding a tiny bit of tasty low cal energy chaff as he likes this, Any ideas?


Thank you :)
 
Tumeric and boswellia didn't seem to help my lad (apart from the orange moustache effect!).

I'm currently using Equimins Flexi Joint but because he's also on danilon I can't actually say if it is helping or not. But I plan to reduce the danilon and then I'll see if we can take him off it altogether.

He is on a diet so gets speedibeet, oat straw chaff (no molasses), micronised linseed, salt, Pro Lam & his Equi Mins Flexi Joint. He is fed a small amount of timothy haylage and a big net of oat straw. Restricted grazing overnight.

Just a note but I will be doing a before and after slo-mo video of him being freeschooled in trot & canter. This will help me gauge whether or not the reduction of danilon is negatively affecting him. A slo mo video is the easiest way for me to see how he is moving any stiffness is really hard to see if watching him at normal speed!

For interest - the ingredients of the liquid Flexi Joint I use are:

Chondroitin Sulphate
Glucosamine HCL
MSM
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
Hyaluronic acid
Devils Claw herbal tincture and glycerine
 
One of mine had his hocks injected about 15 months ago and I have him on Boswellia (no other supplements). I ran out a few months ago and did feel that he wasn't quite as free (working advanced dressage) as when he was on it but that may just have been my imagination. He is back on it and at his annual vet check up last month my vet was very happy with him.

He is fed good quality hay, half a scoop of Baileys light chaff, 2 measures Boswellia and 2 mugs of balancer (whichever one is on special offer!)
 
TotalMadgeness said:
Tumeric and boswellia didn't seem to help my lad (apart from the orange moustache effect!).

I'm currently using Equimins Flexi Joint but because he's also on danilon I can't actually say if it is helping or not. But I plan to reduce the danilon and then I'll see if we can take him off it altogether.

He is on a diet so gets speedibeet, oat straw chaff (no molasses), micronised linseed, salt, Pro Lam & his Equi Mins Flexi Joint. He is fed a small amount of timothy haylage and a big net of oat straw. Restricted grazing overnight.

Just a note but I will be doing a before and after slo-mo video of him being freeschooled in trot & canter. This will help me gauge whether or not the reduction of danilon is negatively affecting him. A slo mo video is the easiest way for me to see how he is moving any stiffness is really hard to see if watching him at normal speed!

For interest - the ingredients of the liquid Flexi Joint I use are:

Chondroitin Sulphate
Glucosamine HCL
MSM
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
Hyaluronic acid
Devils Claw herbal tincture and glycerine
Click to expand...


Id love to see a clip or your boy free schooling in the equicore! do you have any clips of this (can Pm if you would prefer)
Do you choose to free school so he can figure out how to engage his hind whilst being free to move how he wishes?
Noted the slow mo clips, that is a really good idea.



The ingredients of the Equiflex are all pretty good then. when using supplements how soon did you notice a difference?

Im praying that hock injections, chiro, joint supplements and a better work regime will show quiet quickly if the injections have helped.
 
I take the human equivalent of Equimins flexijoint and it definitely works for me. The problem is it takes a few weeks to kick in, then I feel loads better, so I forget to take it, then I slowly realise how bad I am again... and so on. At one point I thought I'd have to stop riding because of my joints... that was over 15 years ago and I'm still going, sort of. If I was going to supplement a horse, I'd probably start there, but I'm not confident I'd see the effects dramatically enough to think it was worth it and the horse might miss out as a result.
 
vhf said:
I take the human equivalent of Equimins flexijoint and it definitely works for me. The problem is it takes a few weeks to kick in, then I feel loads better, so I forget to take it, then I slowly realise how bad I am again... and so on. At one point I thought I'd have to stop riding because of my joints... that was over 15 years ago and I'm still going, sort of. If I was going to supplement a horse, I'd probably start there, but I'm not confident I'd see the effects dramatically enough to think it was worth it and the horse might miss out as a result.
Click to expand...

Well if it works for you that's enough for me to hear, horses cant tell you if its working so if its similar ingredients to the human versions then it must do something. I sometimes worry i see what i want to see when it comes to supplements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vhf
Multiple studies on humans showed that glucosamine had zero effect.

Mine is currently on boswelia, I haven’t seen a difference, although he pulled a shoe and can’t have more put on due to lack of wall so is very footsore currently, not the idea time to decide if the supplements are working.
 
Horsekaren said:
Id love to see a clip or your boy free schooling in the equicore! do you have any clips of this (can Pm if you would prefer)
Do you choose to free school so he can figure out how to engage his hind whilst being free to move how he wishes?
Noted the slow mo clips, that is a really good idea.

The ingredients of the Equiflex are all pretty good then. when using supplements how soon did you notice a difference?

Im praying that hock injections, chiro, joint supplements and a better work regime will show quiet quickly if the injections have helped.
Click to expand...

Hi

I've not noticed a difference in the bone spavin horse with any supplement. But I will start reducing the danilon and see.
But in the younger horse who has stifle joint issues the Equimins appeared to make a difference. He doesn't have arthritis however he has malformed stifle joints!

I chose to freeschool as the vet told me 'no lungeing'! I think the lungeing may cause more strain on the affected joints. Luckily I have a small school 20 x 40 and two well trained horses who will happily free school and do transitions by voice command. If your school is too big you can shorten it by putting jumps across (or electric tape).
The equicore simply helps the horses engage their abs and hind quarters. My bone spavin horse is very bad at using his 'core' but you can see him at the end of a session clearly using his abs and usually he starts to stretch nicely over his back too.
I noticed the biggest difference in my younger horse who's quarters became lovely & springy when using the equicore. Both vet and physio are very pleased with his progress as he was in a bad way at the beginning of the year and practically written off (he's only just turned 6).
Both horses drag their hind toes because of their joint issues and they are definitely better at lifting them when using the equicore. Although I do use poles in walk during the warm up to gently help them 'lift'.
You can apparently make your own equicore by using elastic bandages but sadly I'm not creative enough...

Hillwork is also good for them - hence the use of my sloping driveway and hacking out on roads where there are hills. Even just in walk it does them so much good. The key is making sure you get a good quality walk. With bone spavin the concussion of trotting on hard ground will make them sore - my bone spavin horse can't do any trot on the roads now.

Good luck! I'll try & get some videos...
 
TotalMadgeness said:
Hi

I've not noticed a difference in the bone spavin horse with any supplement. But I will start reducing the danilon and see.
But in the younger horse who has stifle joint issues the Equimins appeared to make a difference. He doesn't have arthritis however he has malformed stifle joints!

I chose to freeschool as the vet told me 'no lungeing'! I think the lungeing may cause more strain on the affected joints. Luckily I have a small school 20 x 40 and two well trained horses who will happily free school and do transitions by voice command. If your school is too big you can shorten it by putting jumps across (or electric tape).
The equicore simply helps the horses engage their abs and hind quarters. My bone spavin horse is very bad at using his 'core' but you can see him at the end of a session clearly using his abs and usually he starts to stretch nicely over his back too.
I noticed the biggest difference in my younger horse who's quarters became lovely & springy when using the equicore. Both vet and physio are very pleased with his progress as he was in a bad way at the beginning of the year and practically written off (he's only just turned 6).
Both horses drag their hind toes because of their joint issues and they are definitely better at lifting them when using the equicore. Although I do use poles in walk during the warm up to gently help them 'lift'.
You can apparently make your own equicore by using elastic bandages but sadly I'm not creative enough...

Hillwork is also good for them - hence the use of my sloping driveway and hacking out on roads where there are hills. Even just in walk it does them so much good. The key is making sure you get a good quality walk. With bone spavin the concussion of trotting on hard ground will make them sore - my bone spavin horse can't do any trot on the roads now.

Good luck! I'll try & get some videos...
Click to expand...

I really like the idea of free schooling with the equicore, i might try that when he is ready.
I got a cheaper version of an equicore, i used it once but i couldnt really tell if it was making any difference. Or if i had fitted properly :( does it look like i was using it correctly? did he look like he was using his core and hind legs? I just assumed i wasnt using it properly as he wanst tired after using it, i read it was suppose to be quiet hard work for them. I know he inst particularly forward what so ever :/

I really hope supplements help him *crosses fingers*

This was back in May, i havnt lunged him now since early June.
 
Horsekaren said:
I really like the idea of free schooling with the equicore, i might try that when he is ready.
I got a cheaper version of an equicore, i used it once but i couldnt really tell if it was making any difference. Or if i had fitted properly :( does it look like i was using it correctly? did he look like he was using his core and hind legs? I just assumed i wasnt using it properly as he wanst tired after using it, i read it was suppose to be quiet hard work for them. I know he inst particularly forward what so ever :/

I really hope supplements help him *crosses fingers*

This was back in May, i havnt lunged him now since early June.
Click to expand...

IDeally you should see them using their abs (they develop a kind of line along their bellies and you should see them lift their backs/lower their heads). You're right it is supposed to be hard work for them! But if he isn't going forward then yeah he probably isn't working as hard as he should be. I do make them go forward even if I have to chase them brandishing my lunge whip (I use a very long flex whip). On your video I can see him trying to stretch which is good. I can also see he isn't really covering the ground particularly well but if his hocks are stiff then he wouldn't - especially on a circle. I'd want to see a bigger more open ground covering trot with tracking up - if you know what I mean? The bands actually look OK to me so that's also good!
 
When I was after one with MSM, Gluco, Chondroitin and Boswellia, I went with hack up bespoke. Although it's hard to tell what works when it's a mix of rehab etc., she did seem to go well on this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top